Raketu

FORD: The IP in VoIP should be Instant Presence!

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:03:07 -0500

By Carl Ford

After Jonathan Christensen declared that VoIP was dead, I provided a reply that basically said, if VoIP was only arbitrage, it deserved to die.

But this is a complex issue, as shown by the last regulatory call.

To me, the issue is making the difference clear, and we don't presently do enough to demostrate the difference between VoIP and POTS over IP. Nowhere is that difference more visible than with Presence. POTS has busy signals, while IM has the text "UT?"

And we must show the possibilities of VoIP and Presence, the more it will lumped into the old technologies.

BellSouth had patents for POTS presense in 1999, but nothing happened with them. It would be a shame if POTS is all that VoIP was left with. And that is a distinct possibility. In the call last week it was clear that a totally Internet-based call that was connected via a phone was a cause for confusion and would be likely categorized as traditional service. Well, if that's the case, where does the line get drawn for softclients?. Today it's clear the point of interconnection where a gateway connects to the PSTN is the answer, but if the Enhanced Service Provider exemption disappears, I would assert that the demarcation no longer is relevant.

Thanks to the VON Coalition and Jim Kohlenberger's pursuit of innovation on the web, I have been exploring the site, http://www.Freedom2Speak.org.

The use of Presence and Instant Messaging is my focus in the column, and I want to ask you all to embrace your communication systems. I fear that, like National Public Radio, the number of passionate advocates do not indicate the amount of users.

So evangelize on behalf of the cool apps of VoIP. Embrace their presence experience, and use the voice side of AIM/AOL, GoogleTalk, MediaRing Talk, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. Use Video with Skype, iChat, ooVoo, Sightspeed, and TokBox, the web based solutions from Adobe, Raketu and Yackpac, the wireless connectivity from a Globe7, and Packet8, and the ad-supported services like Adphone, and Jaduka.

Come back to try Free World Dialup. That client that Jeff Pulver and WebMessenger built is still one of the most innovative. Speaking of innovative, try Say2Go, which is an asynchronous way of speaking - just like IM, or a PalRingo, which is compatible with the rich media (text and pictures) of your cell phone. Use a Peer-to-Peer system like VoIPBuster and the wideband codecs of VoIPWise.

The point is, don't let VoIP be stuck in your mind. No one I know wanted to waste their time updating POTS. Innovation is all around us. The problem is we need to embrace the innovative VOIP. Talk about it - better yet talk with it.

Jaxtr lays off employees

Doug Mohney — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:41:42 -0400

VoIP service/social network Jaxtr laid off 13 employees Friday, belt-tightening it claims will let it stay in business for at least another 18 months.

After the personnel cuts, Jaxtr has 30 full time employees. Jaxtr was founded in 2005 and launched in 2007 with a widget to enable users to receive calls from their friends through a VoIP connection while keeping their personal phone numbers private. It later added low-cost long distance and international calling to the mix.

Only a few weeks ago, Jaxtr added "premium memberships" - subscriptions -- to get a more consistent cash flow model than its previous model of a la carte purchases of phone call credits. There's also some ad revenue coming in.

Executive management at Jaxtr says it hasn't spent any of the $10 million VC money it raised in June and the company expects the cash, along with revenue streams and growth, to allow it to keep going for at least 18 months.

Jaxtr's real problem may be lacking enough differentiation from TalkPlus, Jangl, Raketu and other "me too" VoIP plays that leaned heavily on cheap phone calls and free clients, without implementing many unique features.

For more:
- TechCrunch dials in Jaxtr layoff. Post.

Raketu adds SIP service

Pete Wylie — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:07:40 -0400

Raketu will now offer a client called RakSIP that will enable SIP-based calls through the company's RakOut VoIP service.

Users need only connect their third-party SIP client (mobile or desktop), IP phone or SIP hardware to RakOut to make outbound calls at low prices. RakSIP is compatible with the built-in SIP capabilities in Nokia smartphones and Blackberry devices, and it works with most iPhone and WinMobile SIP clients, according to Raketu's release.

Current users of the RakIn service can begin using RakSIP immediately, and new users can sign up easily for only 99 cents per month. The company has a laundry list of services for use with TVs, IM, mobil devices, businesses, Google widgets, and web phone clients. The addition of a SIP mode to the company's peer-to-peer service solution gives them one up on Skype. Is a channel driver for Asterisk soon to follow?

For more:
- see the RakSIP press release here

Flash gets its VoIP due

Doug Mohney — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:23:23 -0400

Phweet is the most infamous example of Flash bringing VoIP into web-based applications, but there are a number of other sites using Adobe's technology to incorporate telephony into the web.

Raketu is one of the newer companies, as it uses Adobe Flash in its recently released RakOut WebPhone service, says a VoIP News piece conducting inventory. Previously, Raketu had used a PC-based client for VoIP-based services, but a browser-based solution opens up the world of Mac (and iPhone) and Linux users to Raketu's network for lower cost VoIP calls.

Other companies tapping into the power of Flash include Ribbit and Adobe themselves for its free ConnectNow web conferencing services. Ribbit built VoIP into their services using Flash as a foundation block while Adobe's web conferencing services delivers both voice and video communication through Flash.

Of course, Phweet has generated more than its share of attention over the past week by using Flash to conduct VoIP calls as an end-around for call filtering conducted by Aircell's Gogo in-flight broadband service. In theory, any VoIP-incorporating Flash-based app should be able to get around Gogo's filtering as of last week; needless to say, Aircell is working on countermeasures to keep American Airlines cabins quiet and calm.

For more:
- VoIP News gives Flash its due. Article

Related articles
The power of VoIP in Adobe Flash 10
SPOTLIGHT: A Phweet conspiracy? - FierceVoIP

Raketu launches browser agnostic VoIP service

Pete Wylie — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:47:10 -0400

Raketu has announced a new service into its VoIP offerings Friday with the release of its RakOut WebPhone. The new service allows users to make a VoIP call to landline or mobile phones from any web browser; previously, users could only make a call from computers with Microsoft Windows. The service does not require a download, so calls can be made directly from Raketu's website.

Needless to say, this adds Raketu to the lengthly list of VoIP service providers that started with web clients, added dial-out capabilities and typically end up with unique phone numbers with a <something>In service.

Based out of New York City, Raketu hopes to lure business travelers with the accessibility and affordability of the service, in comparison to traditional phone services or mobile offerings.

For more
- Raketu hopes to RakOut to VoIP success.